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Air Force ROTC Detachment Named Best In The Nation

"Our ROTC programs have always done a superb job of preparing our cadets to commission and lead in our country’s military, and this recognition of AFROTC Detachment 805 comes as no surprise."
By Tura King, Texas A&M Marketing & Communications January 11, 2016

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Detachment 805, as the Texas A&M unit is technically designated, garnered highest team honors in an annual competition involving all 145 AFROTC Detachments in the United States.

Texas A&M University’s Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps detachment has been judged the best such unit in the nation.

Detachment 805, as the Texas A&M unit is technically designated, garnered highest team honors in an annual competition involving all 145 AFROTC Detachments in the United States. Judging was conducted by a team of senior officers from Headquarters AFROTC located at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.

“Texas A&M won this coveted award because of the outstanding leadership and mentorship provided by Air Force cadre to its 600-member Cadet Wing,” said Col. Hugh Hanlon, Detachment 805 Commander and Professor of Aerospace Studies. “This team was chosen as the number one AFROTC Detachment in the country at producing the best Officers for the United States Air Force. These officers will selflessly serve the nation with a strong sense of integrity and a foundation of academic excellence and exceptional leadership.”

Hanlon explains that the Air Force detachment repeatedly earns a large number of awards and honors, as well as maintains highly efficient processes and procedures. Detachment 805 was also recently recognized as the 2015 South West Region Right of Line Award winner for Large Detachment, number one of 36 AFROTC Detachments in Texas and surrounding states.

“Texas A&M has always taken great pride in its tradition of producing high-quality military officers. Our ROTC programs have always done a superb job of preparing our cadets to commission and lead in our country’s military, and this recognition of AFROTC Detachment 805 – the largest AFROTC detachment in the nation – comes as no surprise,” said Brig. Gen. (retired) Joe E. Ramirez, Jr., Commandant of the Corps of Cadets. “The cadre, led by Professor of Aerospace Studies Colonel Hugh Hanlon, has done an excellent job of training, developing and preparing some of our finest cadets to become officers in the United States Air Force. The cadre of AFROTC Detachment 805 and the AFROTC cadets who are members of the detachment represent the very best that our country has to offer, and we are extremely proud of all of them for this significant accomplishment. Texas A&M continues to lead the nation in producing some of our country’s finest military officers, and AFROTC Detachment 805 is at the forefront of leading our nation in doing just that.”

Among Detachment 805’s key accomplishments in 2015 were the implementation of a detailed plan to train the next generation of Air Force pilots and host several senior military leaders, such as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, former U.S. Transportation Command Commander, Air Combat Command Commander and the Deputy Commander for U.S. Strategic Command.

Hanlon added that the Detachment’s cadets have a “profoundly positive impact on a national level in various arenas, to include Cyberspace research.”

In the last year alone, A&M’s Air Force cadets received national recognition and multiple scholarships, along with 100-percent selection rate for the capstone Professional Officer Course training program, producing six Distinguished Graduates and six Superior Performers. Air Force cadets also earned top honors nationally, with a 96-percent selection rate for various flying duties upon commissioning, to include pilot and navigator.

Texas A&M AFROTC is the largest detachment in the country with nearly 600 cadets. The unit commissioned 49 Air Force officers in 2015.

The Detachment is closely affiliated with the Corps of Cadets, which commissions more officers than any other university other than the nation’s military academies. While cadets can earn commissions as military officers, membership in the Corps itself carries no military obligation.

Texas A&M’s Corps of Cadets is in its 141st year of training leaders for service to the state and nation since 1876. Cadets learn leadership in a military-style environment that complements their academic education and prepares them for a lifetime of success.

For more about the Air Force ROTC program at Texas A&M, go here.

For more about the Corps of Cadets, go here.

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